Friday, October 29, 2010

What can say about this experimental indie pop band from Placerville except - "where have they been all my life?"

Lead by singer/songwriter Jocelyn Noir (her Goth alias), their sound (or perhaps her sound) is haunting, electrifying and extremely entertaining. One minute they sound like a country influenced folk band, and the next like Joy Division's feminine reflection.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

I met Storyteller back when we were both DJs at KSSU. He played tons of great electronic/techno/house music like Kraftwerk, Daft Punk, you name it - he had it and most likely, on vinyl.

I was excited to see that not only does he remix tracks but that he has some original compositions as well. And, keeping in theme of his name, Storyteller organizes all his music into books and chapters.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

I have been meaning to get around to this psychedelic indie band for a while now and after I listened to their self-recorded and released album Psychemancer I knew I had to tell you all about it.

First off, these guys are still in high school. And I know there are lots of young bands out there, especially in Sacramento, but Dead Scott has a serious sophistication of sound. Think Pink Floyd meets Ziggy Stardust in a bar and they head over to T Rex's garage to record some songs...while still in high school.

I think they have some serious potential so I was bummed when I saw a post on Facebook that said they had given up trying to make money off their music. Dead Scott seems to me like a band a small indie label would love to promote. I hope they keep trying.

I've noticed since moving to the area that Sacramento has a seriously strong and deeply rooted punk scene. I mean, we have 7Seconds, The Secretions, Kepi Ghoulie - perhaps the Unholy Trinity of the genre for our region.

Now, I'm not going to pretend that I know a bunch about punk music, because I don't. I respect it - any band that can name themselves Grave Babies, or the Queers deserves a fair amount of reverence from folks like me (indie pop, dance music, of Montreal fanatics).

Aside from their awesome names, punk bands are great about creating distinct flyers for every single show and they promote (especially online) like crazy! But the best place to find out what's happening in the punk scene any day of the week is Sacramento Punk Shows.

They are on top of promoting local shows - in fact they were months ahead of everyone else with Wild Flag's show at the Hub. I wouldn't be surprised that the reason why it's sold out already (yup, sorry folks) has something to do with whomever keeps up on their punk homework at Sacramento Punk Shows.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Okay, I've featured Mike Colossal a lot - but I couldn't think of anyone better than him to start off our newest feature. In my opinion, his music is all about that DIY, independent spirit. He mixes, records, and promotes his music on his own.

Here's a track that is not only FREE to download, but also exemplifies his well trained ear for music of many genres and his skills as a master (and Sammie nominated) turntablist.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

I got a message on Facebook from one of our Padutans - she admitted that she hadn't heard of ANY of the bands we've featured thus far before until I posted something about CAKE on Wednesday.

While I was writing my reply, I had a revelation of sorts.

That's the point of Paduta - to expose folks to new music they've never heard of before, every day!

At the same time I realized that I haven't been doing the best job keeping our word to bring you fresh music on a daily basis. With our site still under construction, the push to post a new daily track to our social networking sites hasn't been on my list of top priorities.

UNTIL NOW!

Starting Monday, I plan to a share a new track EVERY DAY, a feature I plan to call "FRESH TRAX," with you here on the blog, on Facebook, MySpace, and yep, Twitter --- music from independent artists locally and hopefully soon from around the globe.

I've already had a few musicians do this and I'm hoping more will be inspired to do so.

All you have to do is click the "DropBox" tab on our Facebook page . . .

Then Click "Send your tracks" and you are all set!

[*NOTE* Tracks will NOT be available for the public to download for free unless otherwise specified by the artist.]

Once I get your submissions, I will review and post them to our social networking sites with a blurb about you, your music, and where they can hear and/or buy more!

So it's a win-win all around. Paduta, while under construction, will continue providing a service that exposes you to new music every day and independent musicians will get that little extra support they need to write and record tunes on their own!

If you're an artist and have any questions drop us an email, or send us a message on Facebook!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

I didn't even know what to expect. I heard about the weekly Monday night jazz/spoken word/experimental music series only because my boyfriend was scheduled to DJ in between sets.

This went beyond expectation.

The caliber of musicians, the price of the event [ranging anywhere from $5 and up - basically whatever you can spare], and the spirit of the room and venue made this probably one of the best night's I've experienced since moving to Sacramento.

I'll go into the separate performances in a bit, but first I have to talk about the intimacy of the setting. Luna's Cafe and Juice Bar is by far one of the best venues for this kind of music in the area. It's small, warm, and inviting. Not to mention they have an amazing menu with simple dishes [veggie/vegan friendly] that won't break the bank. For $10 you can pay to get in, order a nice glass of wine, and enjoy music I promise you've never heard before.

Hosted by jazz musician and one-half of the talented duo ElectroPoetic Coffee, Ross Hammond booked three acts that all embodied the creative essence of musical exploration.

First up was Daryl Shawn, a solo artist and guitar player who began playing at the age of 16, and continued his musical education at the Berklee College of Music. His influences range from jazz to African and classical.

Last night, he strummed, recorded, and mixed his music live using a pedal, and an audio and mixing board. He twisted and distorted his recordings and ended up sounding like a full experimental band!

The Ken Kawamura Quartet followed up with some of the best saxophone solos I've heard in a really long time. Each solo explored an extensive range of notes and technique.

It was moody, exploratory, at times explosive jazz. It was Lynchian. It was Fred Madison at the Luna Lounge. *Note* Ken Kawamura hadn't named his last two pieces and decided at that moment to name them both "Revenge" - dedicated to his ex-girlfriend.

Last up was the Steuart Liebig Trio, which consisted of Ross Hammond on guitar, Tom Monson on the drums (BTW - he's the drummer for CAKE right now), and of course Steuart Liebig on bass.

Liebig was a thrilling bass player who has a full and varied musical career, and who also had quite the electronic set up for just one instrument. He had at least 8-10 pedals that he used to distort and the change of the effect of the bass sound.

What was extremely inspiring about this performance were the solos of all these musicians. Their entire set was evocative, and really showcased their individual as well as collective talent.

If you are looking for something, ANYTHING, to do on a Monday night, please check out Nebraska Mondays at Luna's Cafe. Every week there is new line up of exciting music, and poetry/spoken word performances. Trust me, you won't be disappointed!

Monday, October 18, 2010

I got a free ticket to the first major event at the new Crocker Art Museum since the grand opening. It was a hefty ticket price [$75 presale/$95 at the door] and it wasn't until I arrived that I understood the high cost.

When you walked in, in front of you short films were projected on one of the sides of the museum. DJ Shaun Slaughter was spinning records as fire dancers performed on the main stage.

There was laser show, a huge bar, waiters walking around with delicious hors d'oeuvres, and this is just what was going on as you arrived! Guests were dressed up and I'm not only talking about looking fancy - some folks were wearing extremely eccentric and artistic outfits - one man wore a jacket covered with watches.

A few separate events were going on inside the museum itself as well. On the ground floor early on there was a fashion show and music.

RJD2 (picture left) opened his show at 11 PM with the Mad Men theme "A Beautiful Mine" and continued for the rest of the night performing his other popular tracks and doing some classic DJing as well as the rest of us danced our butts off!

As awesome as all of this was (and oh, it was!), I was most impressed and moved by ElectroPoetic Coffee's performance on the third floor - which happened to also be in my favorite room in the new museum.

This extremely creative duo is made up of jazz musician/guitarist and host of improvisational music series Nebraska Mondays at Luna's Cafe Ross Hammond and poet/spoken word artist and neo folk singer NSAA (pronounced "en-sah-ah").

The combination of moody electric guitar and smart, insightful poetry in the art museum setting created a memorable experience that was extraordinary and memorable. One of the audience members was actually moved to tears by ElectroPoetic Coffee's music and words. I highly recommend checking out this duo as well as their separate work.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

San Francisco's LoveLikeFire are being joined by I'm Dirty Too, The Dreaded Diamond and The Kelps at the Townhouse Lounge on Saturday night [October 16th | 9 PM]. Along with these amazing bands, DJs will be spinning records in between sets and probably upstairs as well.

As with all of C4C's shows, proceeds will go to their organization which helps raise money for music and arts education for kids in the Sacramento area. So YOU get to rock out for a great cause.

To give you a better idea of what you can expect from the show, here's a little breakdown . . .

LoveLikeFire = Ann, Dave, Eric, and Marty

What is most amazing about LoveLikeFire isn't just Ann Yu's vocals (though they are powerful) or how catchy their tunes are.

What impresses me the most about this indie band by the bay is that many of their successes they achieved on their own. They self funded two EPs, and booked themselves on regional and national tours (at huge festivals like CMJ and SxSW, and have performed with bands like Black Kids, Mates of State, and Cloud Cult).

In 2008 they were signed to UK label Heist or Hit which helped them release their first full length album Tear Ourselves Awayin 2009 and currently they are on a West Coast tour and will be performing multiple shows with Film School (LA).

Sacramento's I'm Dirty Too is a two-piece consisting of Jess Gowrie (she played drums for the black metal band Red Host from 2006-8 with Chelsea Wolfe) and Zac Brown (Dusty Brown, DOOMbird). They say their name pretty much describes their sound which is good old fashioned "dirty guitar, fuzzed out bass, intense driving beats" garage rock.

Check out their MySpace to hear a few tracks - I personally recommend "Screamer."

Dreaded Diamond = Juli Lydell, Tyler Lydell,
and Addison Quarrels

A few weeks ago, I received an excitable Facebook message from Clay at C4C about The Dreaded Diamond and this is what he had to say:

"Dudes,

This band is going to EXPLODE and we can all say we knew it first."

Well said, Clay.

The Kelps = Tony Reyes, Cory Baringer,
and Cameron Betts

The Kelps are a nice late addition to this already awesome line up. I think they have the energy to balance out the mellow tunes of Dreaded Diamond and to compliment I'm Dirty Too.

They were also one of the nominees for Outstanding Indie for this year's Sammies.

They describe their music as blues inspired "indie" but by no means do they wished to be defined or CONfined by any genre:

"Music isn't confined by genres. Music isn't confined by audience. Music shouldn't be confined at all."

In an effort to draw bigger and more diverse crowds, venues and bookers have gotten really good at putting together an equally big and diverse bill.

By booking a teen punk band, with indie folk, rock and pop acts people who might be coming out for one band are going to be exposed to new music they wouldn't normally get exposed to. Clay Nutting, founder of Concerts 4 Charity: Sacramento talked about this in our interview back in August. He agrees that creating an eclectic bill is a key factor and step to strengthening the local music community.

So when I saw this Luigi's Fungarden show poster I was really excited because it seems that this mixed-genre booking trend is becoming more and more popular in the area. Even if you haven't heard of ANY of these bands, all it takes is a little research and finding one you like and that $5 is worth it. But, you're probably busy and the show is tonight. No problem. I did the research for you!

But as much as they like getting lots of gigs, bars are not their favorite venues because they think bars are smelly and I agree.

Experimental indie rock band Der Spazmwill most likely round off the night with jams, improvised song breaks, and all around great sound. Formed in 2006, this band has performed all over Sacramento and have developed a strong local following.

Derek Miller of SN&R best described their shows as "pretty much the equivalent of Jesus buying you a drink at the bar. You can't say no. It gets better too. Jesus likes your band tattoos and says he's down to smoke you out while listening to Sonic Youth" (5/21/09).

About Me

Our mission is to promote indie artists & bands from ALL genres, one song at a time.

In this way, artists' songs will get the much needed attention and real-time statistics to gain instant feedback and listeners will have access to new music otherwise ignored by major labels and biased commercial radio stations.

Read our blog to find out more about the services Paduta offers, the artists we support, and the industry we love!